Ribbon feeding mechanism



June 3o, 1931. A. THOMAS y 1,512,251

RIBBON FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Marchl s, 192e v 2 sheets-sheet `1 ,In yen/Tol( June 30, 1931. A. THOMAS 1,812,251

RIBBON FEEDING MEGHANI SM Filed March 8, 1928 2 sheets-sheet 2 io thus necessary vwhile 'owing ARTHURTIIOMAS, kor THORNTON HEATH, ENGLAND,

e; TABULATING- CORPORATION or ,GREAT BRITAIN, LIMITED, or LONDON, ENGLAND c f vRIBBON DEEDINQLMECIIANISVM Application mea Marcil s,

j This invention relates to ribbon-feed mechanismtor typewriters, adding machines and the like and more particularlyiior tabulating printing machineso'f the power-driven type.

In suchv a specitic. application, a large num-y ber of printing members may bey operated at each stroke with the machine runningat'70 or 8O strokesper minute; constant 'reversals of th-e direction of running ofthe'ribbon are ribbon in use, which may aniounttor example to 18 inches, it is ot importance that the ribu bon-should be'driveii at aunitorin' tension to prevent looping or sagging.;r K 1 i5' With the obj ect of providing-a ribbon lfeed mechanisinsuitable for the purposesindi-JV cated, the pres-ent inventionv consists in the combinations ot parts hereinafterlset orth and particularly pointed out inthe claims.

A4 is a` .planof spools,

spindles 6,7 ,are mounted, theirupfper vends,

passing through thimbles, 8,9, respectively,

which rvrest upon .the brackets, 4, 5.1i TheseV` and lowerl tliiinbles have-upper flanges, 8a, 9a, iflanges, 8b, 9b, the latter Vbeing provided with flats (seeSo, 8,in Figure whichcO-*act-.with any con-Yy venient adjacentpart of the VKframe/ofthe machine to prevent turning. In addition they thimbles arepressed upwards by springs, 8d,

respectively-on theV spindles, 6,7 As the spools rotate, a frictional drag is thus createdv paper, 18', is passed.

to the length of An illustrativev form'of the inventionlwill now be described with' reference to theaccomf.

- providedwith'fa 30,*fits whenthe ribbon is wound ,spool ypull, the pin, itmakes contact withabell-crankl lever, f one armfSGa,

tion, 865, as'` shown on the right-hand side of Figure 4. Theotlier arni,.36c,- of the bell-I y in relatit'in,tov the thiinble,v

bytheir contact with the4upper*-tlanges,f8a,

i928. serial 110,260,099. i

9a, of the thimbles and y tained oii'the ribbon. rThe ribbon, 12,.wound `on tliesespools, iscarried -roundguide pins or rollers, 14, and supported insuitable guides,

15,' which hold it in the ycorrect position. in front of the paper platen, 17, roundw-hich the plate, 1,` withbevel gears, 20,21, engagingwithy corresponding bevel gears,` 22, 23,

gears, 22, .23,` being oppositely-disposed in a steady tension main-g "4' 'Thespindles,`i6, 7are L provided at` their. lowerendsl below the bed- V Y' relation to the bevel gears,20, 21, so that for thesame direction of rotationof the shafts," 24, 25, the spindles, y6, 7, rotat'ein opposite directions. Each spool," 10 and 11,"is pro-v vided 'with a pin, 30, attached to an arm, 31, pivotallyl mounted at 32, on tlie upper flange,

33,of the spook-.the pin,'30, passingvth'rfough Y 'm ofthe spool below tlie'latter` of which it pro` slots, 34, in looththe'upperV and lowerflanges jects.' Thev centre hub, 35, .of the 4spoolgis o n the spool.. The ribbon, 12thev end'of'which is attached `recess'into which the'pin,

' to" the pin, 30, will when unwound from; the

30, from its recess .so lthat ,l

.36 f of which has a tuinedlover pori.

crank lever, 3G, is connected by the link,37, to

42, this shaft being 4,ifotated `backwards ,and

forwards through a small arc by a'nysuitable l x mechanism such asthfe'lever, 42a, connecting-I .'lhelever, 40,is kept initsupperposition as.

showninFigure 2 byfineanslofaispring,43, the link, 37,l continually swinging"backwards aiidforwards owing`r to the movementsoftlie Shaft, 42. i

- Below thelink, ,a lever, 44,.is upon theupperend oflthejshort; vertical 9d, against the ribbon spools, 10,'11, mounted. shaft, 45, rotatable in a suitable,bushing,f46,

in the ;bed-plate,1 of the machine; AThelow'-l i er end o'tth'eshaft, 45, is providedwith ce' Y ymounted upon theshjafts, 24,. 25, thebevel Cil 48, 49, on the horizontal shaft, 50. `When the pin, 30, is pulled over by the ribbon so that it strikes the bell-crank lever, 36, the link, 37, will be depressed and its lower end will engage the lever, 44, pullingl it over and sliding the reversing shaft, 50, longitudinally by means of the lever, 47.

A reversing mechanism as described is associated with each reel or spool.

The shaft, 42, is provided with a cam, 53, which co-acts with a roller, 54, on the end of a lever, 55, pivoted at the point, 56. In rigid relation to the lever, 55, is another lever, 57, the end of which is connected by a spring, 58, secured to the frame of the ma chine at 59, thus keeping the roller, 54, in engagement with the cam, 53. The lever, 55, is provided with a depending projection, 61, which engages with a stop, 62, on the catch, 63, which can be slid up and down vertically by any suitable means not shown. lVhen the catch, 63, is raised, the stop, 62, makes contact with the projection, 61, and the lever, 55, is held in its highest position so that the oscillating movement of the shaft, 42, and cam, 53, impart no motion thereto, the chain of elements forming the drive being thereby broken.

The lever, 55, is connected by the link, 70, to a lever, 71, mounted upon the shaft, 72, which is pivoted in the bracket plate, 73, 74, on the bed-plate, 1. On the shaft, 72, is also mounted another lever, 75, the end of which is provided with a roller, 7 6, which engages in a slot, 77, in the flange, 78, of the sleeve, 79. The flange, 78, also carries a pawl, 80, which engages with the ratchet wheel, 82, loosely mounted upon the juxtaposed ends of the shafts, 24, 25. l

Mounted upon the bracket plate, 74, is a pawl, 83, held in engagement with the teeth on the pinion, 82, by means of the spring, 84, so as to prevent rearward rotation or rebound of the pinion. The pinion, 82, is connected on either side by dog` couplings to the two members. 90, 91, which are freely rotatable on the shafts, 24, 25, and are provided with teeth, 92, 93, rounded off on their outer corners as shown in Figure 3. The sleeve, 79, is freely rotatable onthe member, 91 and the pinion, 82.

The collars, 94,` 95, are secured rigidly to the shafts, 24, 25, and maintain the two toothed members, 90, 91 in engagement with the pinion, 82. The two collars are provided with slots,- 96, 97, respectively, in which slide two keys, 98, 99, mounted respectively on sleeves, 100, 101, slidable on theshaf'ts, 24, 25, the sleeves being provided with circumferential grooves, 102, 103, into which. lit levers, 104,105, mounted on the reversing shaft 50. The` keys, 98, 99, have turned down ends, 106, 107 which lit loosely into recesses in the members, 100, 101, the keys as a whole being held in'position by means of garter springs, 1 08, 109, situated in circumferential grooves in the sleeves, 100, 101. The sleeves, 100, 101, and keys, 98, 99, carried by them thus form a pair of `clutch members movable s imultaneously by the shaft 50, and so disposed that one clutch member is withdrawn before the other is inserted.

When the shaft, 50, is moved longitudinally from one position to another', one or other of the keys, 98, 99, will engage with the teeth, 92 or 93, if in exact alignment with the slots, 96 or 97, in the collars, or if not in such alignment when the shaft is moved, the keys will first be tilted by the radius on the members, 90, 91, and then be pressed by the springs, 108, 109, between the teeth, 92, 93, as they come into line.

rllhe operation of the form of mechanism described is as followsz- Supposing the ribbon moving' from left to right in Figure 1, the reversing shaft, 50,

will bein its left-hand position as seen in Figure 3, the key, 99, engaging with the toothed member, 91, while the key 98, is disengaged from the toothed member, 92; the drive is then effected from the first-motion shaft, 42, by way of the cam, 53, which oscillates the lever, 55, and by means of the link, 70, transmits such oscillations to the lever, 71, shaft, '72, and lever, 75, thereby in turn rocking the flange, 78, of the sleeve, 79, and at each reciproca-tion moving the ratchet wheel, 82, and toothed members, 91, 92, through one ratchet tooth. This part of the driving mechanism operates continuously and forms part of the means for driving the spool-s which is common to both. F rom the toothed members, 91, 92, the remainder of the drive is individual to the particular spool being driven. Thus, in the present instance the toothed member, 91, and,l the key, 99, transmit the movement through the collar, 95, tothe shaft, 25, and thence through the bevel wheels, 23, 21, and vertical spindle, 7, to the right-hand spool. Finally, when as described the ribbon is entirely unwound from the left-hand spool, 10, its pin, 30, will be pulled by the ribbon into a position such that it engages with the turned-over end of the bell-crank lever, 36, thus lowering the link, 37, so that the latter, which is inoperative during winding, though continuously oscillated by the connecting rod, 40, will engage with the lever, 44, and turn the short vertical shaft, 45, (which is stationary during winding) and thereby the reversing shaft, 50, will be moved by the lever, 47, to the right as shown in Figure 3, disengaging the key, 99, and engaging the key, 98, the drive now proceeding by way of the shaft, 24, and vertical spindle, 6. rthe ribbon is then wound on the left-hand spool, 10, and unwound from the right-hand spool until on completion of the operation the pin, 30, of the right-hand spool will bepulled out by the tension of the ribbon and'again reversethefdrive.r The ribbon thus performsy only the very lightk work of lowering the link, 37', the actual clutching and declutchingbeing performed by power, while'in addition due to the nature of the drive, the ribbon feed and the clutch reversing arecarried out at different times,`

since, when the link, 37,' is lowered to vengage with the' lever, 44.-, movement of vthelever,` 42a, in one direction necessarily followed immediately by a movement inA theopposite direction which4 acts to. changeover the clutches but does not feedv the ribbon; the clutchreversinggisl therefore effected at a moment when theribbon'isl stationary and not sub]ected to driving tension, A

y Although one'speciiic form of mechanism l by way of illustrating the invention has been described in detail, it will Vbe obvious to `those Vskilled in the artthatsubordinate`compo-v nents` or groups of componentsA of the comlete mechanism may take other forms, and

- 4desire that the claimsappendant heretomay means for driving one rof said spools'to windV be given as broad an interpretation as the@ law allow-s. l

Having now-described my invention,what

vI claim aswnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz` c v 1. In a ribbo feed, the combination of a pair of ribbon spools; aV first-motion shaft;

the ribbon'thereon and unwind it from said` other spoel; meansl for drivingvfsaid other spool' to wind the ribbon thereon and unwind it from -said first-mentioned spool, parts of said driving y means,

motion shaft, being. common toboth said driving means; meansy for changing over from one of said driving meansto the other; meansactuated from said first-motion shaft for operating said changing-over mea-ns; means for holding mally yin an inoperativer position; and means including a spool-carried member movable under the pull of the ribbonV for bringing e said actuatingmeans into theoperative,posiv tion.

pair of ribbon spools ;means spools, said driving means common to both spools n dividual to each spool and included in said common drive', aiirst-motion shaft having Van having a drive roscillating movement, a cam mounted on saidv shaft, a leverV oscillated by said'y cam andmeansv for holding said lever in an inoper-l ative position in relation to said cam together with automatic means brought into operation by the tension bringing one of said individual drives into.

of the ribbon for alternately operative relation to` said common drive and rendering inoperative the other of said vindividualdrives. ,4 3. In a ribbon feed, the combination of a pair of ribbon spools; means for-.driving saidl to feed the ribbon is including said ,firstsaid actuating means vnorl In a ribbon feed the combination kof al for driving said,

spools,ysaiddriving means-having a drive 'common to both spools and adrive individual to each spool; together witliautomatic means brought into operation by the tension ofthe ribbon for alternately bringing one of mon'drive including a member rotatedr step'- by-stepiand having two sets of clutch teeth 75,Vv andfsaid automatic means includinga pair of Y clutch members,l each witlia spring-controlj led key to engage said clutch teeth and means formoving said clutchmembers onel into and ,one outof operative relation tosaid step-by- ,y

step member.

bbon fee-d, rthe combination of i i' A pair of ribbon spools; means for driving said f1 spools, said `driving means having a drive common to both spoolsland ajdriveindividual.v "f1 e to eachl spo-ol; automatic meansbrought'into continuously oscillated but in an inoperative position -during winding; together `with means responsive to the movement of a spool` carried member under theipull Vofjthe ribbon `for l bringingsaid continuouslyoscillated part from its inoperative position intoy driv- Ving relationwith said stationary part; f

" 5.- In a ribbon feed, the combination-,ofV a piedi pair of ribbon spools; means for driving said y .drive a member Vand means for rotating said member stepfby-step; means for preventing spools, saiddriving meansyhaving a drive E 'common to bo-th spoolsand av drive individualto each spool and included insaid'comm'on i rebound of said member and consequent f slackening vofthe ribbon between steps; to-v f ternately bri` e drives into operative relation to mon drive and rendering inoperative' the otherof said individual drives.

gether with automatic means broughtintolllc0 operation by the tension ofthe ribbonfor al- @ging one of `said individualy saidV com- A, l

`11,5 e Ina ribbonffeed, the vcombination of 'i pair of ribbon spools; means fordrivingone klf of said spools towind the ribbon thereon and c unwind itfromthesaid other spool; `means for'driving said other-spool to windjthe rib. f, *i l' .bon thereon and unwindV it from said irstr` i mentioned spool', parts of saiddriving means, ff

including a power shaft'andja reciprocating V; f

member receivingl its movement therefrom,

,being-common' to both said driving means;

means for .changing over from one of'said driving vmeans, to the other; and means i in# Y cluding a spool-carried member movableun-4 v de rthe'pull of the ribbon for bringing said l .changing-'over means f into operation,l saidjlo said ,79 individual dri-ves vinto operative relation' :to I rsaid'common drive and rendering inoperative the'other of said Vindividual drives, said lcom'- ehangingover means and said means for bringing said Changing-over means into operation being actuated during different strokes of said reciprocating member.

7. In a ribbon feed7 the combination of a pair of ribbon spools; means for driving one of said spools to Wind the ribbon thereon and unwind it from the said other spool; means for driving said other spool to Wind the ribbon thereon and unwind it from said iirstmentioned spool, parts of said driving means7 including a power shaft and a Chain of elements operated therefrom, being common to both said driving means; manually-operable means for rendering said chain inoperative at will; power-operated .means for changing over from one of said driving means to the other; and means including a spool-Carried member movable under the pull of the ribbon for bringing said Changing-over means into operation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR THGMAS. 

